The Main Nue
Individuel Elite Pro Championnat de France A and B competition is sponsored by the Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque (FFPB). The competition began on December 23, 2016 and will end on February 20, 2017. You can follow its progress here. Pelotelive.free.fr also provides A and B
coverage. The tournament is a seeded ladder tournament.
* not listed on the Esku Pilota player pages at this time.
The
A group consists of Antton Amulet, Philippe Bielle, Bixintxo Bilbao,
Pascal de Ezcurra, Baptiste Ducassou, Peio Guichandut, Ximun Lambert,
Peio Larralde, Matheiu Ospital, and Agusti Waltary. The seeds, from low
to high are: Amulet and Ospital (1/8), Bilbao and Waltary
(Quarter-finals), and Larralde and Ducassou ("Liguilla").
The
B group consists of Gregory Aguirre, Jean-Philippe Benesse*, Mickael
Darmendrail, Vincent Elgart, Julien Etchegaray, Alexis Inchauspe,
Laurent Lambert, Cedric Lucu, Alain Migueltorena, Antton Monce, Mattin
Olcomendy*, and Mickael Palomes. The seeds, from low to high are:
Darmendrail and L. Lambert (1/8), Palomes and Inchauspe
(Quarter-finals), and Elgart and Monce ("Liguilla").
The "Liguilla" phase is a round robin among the top 4 finishers (two
who win their way in and two who are seeded in) which will determine
the finalists.
Article describing the competition (Esku Pilota)
December 23 2016-January 2, 2017 matches; January 6, 2017 matches
January 9, 2017
Preview article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki)
Le Garat, St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (1) (2)
B5. Benesse* defeated Darmendrail via a forfeit. Darmendrail is recovering from cyst surgery and has dropped out of the tournament.
In place of that match, as a "lever de rideau" (curtain raiser) for the A4 match, Elgart (seeded into the "Liguilla" phase of the B tournament) played against Benesse instead.
Elgart defeated Benesse* 40-36 or 40-35. (Note: the Garat "lundi" page has the score of this match 40-36. Pilota Ttiki and Esku Pilota have it 40-35). This is the second consecutive week that separate sources have different scores for the same match. Benesse's next match will be a quarter final match against Palomes on Monday, January 16, 2017 at the Garat.
A4. Ospital defeated de Ezcurra 40-33
Match article for both matches (Pilota Ttiki)
Match article, along with match statistics (source: H. Ocafrain via Excel spreadsheet created by Esku Pilota), and an audio interview with Ospital. (Esku Pilota). Note that de Ezcurra's + adds to 28 (which is not listed in the spreadsheet or in the original Ocafrain table at the Garat "lundi" page).
This was a difficult match for Ospital. According to the match article he was playing with a sore heel which he bandaged. The bandage bothered him and he fell behind 8-2. According to Ospital:
"J’avais un petit souci au talon depuis le Super Prestige et j’ai joué en début de partie avec la cheville bandée et ce n’est pas du tout les mêmes appuis. Je n’étais pas du tout précis. Sur le coup de 20 j’ai enlevé le strap et après j’ai trouvé un petit plus de précision dans mon jeu"
loosely translated by Google:
"I had a little worry in the heel since the Super Prestige and I played at the beginning of the game with the ankle bandaged and it is not at all the same supports. I was not at all accurate. On the stroke of 20 I removed the strap and then I found a little more precision in my game."
Ospital was struggling at: 2-8; 9-11; 14-16; and 19-21. After the bandage came off the score went to 27-23; 32-28; and 39-31.He next faces Waltary at the Garat on January 16.
In other news, Bilbao's match v Guichandut, originally scheduled for Villefranque on January 14, has been postponed due to Bilbao being ill with influenza. That match has been re-scheduled for January 21 at the same venue. To replace match of the 14th a "lever de rideau" B match between Monce and Elgart (both seeded in at the Liguilla level), will precede the B6 match of Etchegaray v L. Lambert.
For cumulative records of Main Nue elite professionals see the "Cumulative records of EP players" on the recurring results page on the right side of the blog.
